There are many commonly available constructional toys for children. They range in complexity to meet the developmental needs and abilities of children, whether for recreation or education. As well as promoting co-ordination skills, they help to encourage creativity and develop an understanding of basic mechanics.
Constructional toys for younger children tend to be simplistic, allowing for constructional elements to be joined end to end (i.e. uni-directional). Constructional toys for older children allow for more complex structures (for example, extending in multiple directions), but are inappropriate for younger children as they require dexterity and understanding beyond the ability of a younger child.
Young children may quickly exhaust the possibilities of the simpler constructional toys, but may be frustrated by the complexity of more advanced constructional systems. Thus a child may lose interest in such play, and hence lose an appreciation of engineering subjects as a whole.
Hence a constructional toy which may be used by children of different developmental stages, which provides a medium for creativity, enables continued development of their mechanical skills and understanding, is highly desirable.